Best Sailing Excursion Guides

"Simply put, every local boater should have a dog-eared, well-thumbed copy [of this guide] as a permanent feature in the nautical library. A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands has earned an outstanding reputation for the accuracy of its piloting instructions, the clarity of its writing, and the high quality of its information. Approaches and anchorages for hundreds of bays, harbors, and inlets―many with annotated charts Weather, tides, currents, and commercial traffic patterns Local history and attractions 240 full-color photos 75 color chartlets Larger size and lay-flat binding for ease of use. For even those few boaters who think they know all Puget Sound has to offer, this invaluable reference guide will introduce them to hundreds of new places yet to explore. "An encyclopedic sailing guide to area waters, written with exhaustive first-hand research to almost every cove and inlet, and complemented with a remarkable series of maps, charts, and pictures. "A monumental book that gives minute details on every bay, waterway, and stretch of navigable salt water from Olympia to Port Angeles, including the San Juan Islands. A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands has earned an outstanding reputation for the accuracy of its piloting instructions, the clarity of its writing, and the high quality of its information. Approaches and anchorages for hundreds of bays, harbors, and inlets―many with annotated charts Weather, tides, currents, and commercial traffic patterns Local history and attractions 240 full-color photos 75 color chartlets Larger size and lay-flat binding for ease of use. For even those few boaters who think they know all Puget Sound has to offer, this invaluable reference guide will introduce them to hundreds of new places yet to explore. "An encyclopedic sailing guide to area waters, written with exhaustive first-hand research to almost every cove and inlet, and complemented with a remarkable series of maps, charts, and pictures.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Cruising up there can be very complex....considering ship traffic, reefs that are close to the water surface, floating logs that can separate an outdrive from the boat in a nanosecond, and private or shallow areas that it is a good idea to stay away from."
"A must have for cruising down sound or in the San Juan Islands."
"We constantly use this book for boating in the puget sound."
"the wire coil back is a pain to deal with."
"We've been sailing in the San Juans for over 30 years and still found this book helpful."
"The spiral binding is very nice which allows the pages to lay flat and the heavy cover tucks acound them when the book is closed to protect the page edges - a great touch. I expect this will be a book we will really use this season."
"Great book for cruising the Sound."
"The Waggoner book that was in our charter boat was much better but our favorite was San Juan Islands Cruise Guide: A Boaters Handbook for Camping the San Juan's and Surrounding Area by Cummins."

Long known as the most all-encompassing cruising guide ever written on the Exuma Cays, much of what Steve has written in The Exuma Guide is not available from any other publication. In this role Steve quickly gained an intimate knowledge of the waters of the Park and the Exuma Cays Realizing that the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park deserved a bit more recognition than is given in even the best guides to the area, Steve and Ray produced A Cruising Guide to the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"you should also get pavlidis' latest guides to the northern and southern bahamas as well."
"Updated annually, it not only offers safe passages but gives information when you arrive as to marinas, anchorages, shopping and dining."
"Looks like a great guide with lots of detail like approaches, GPS coordinates, and local info."
"It replaced my old version."
"A must for any sailed that cruise the Exumas."
"This guide is a wonderful overview of the Islands and towns within them."
"I've used the Yachtsman's guide in the past but Pavlidis has much more information on the Exumas."

Comprehensive and authoritative, this guide combines and updates two smaller, long-trusted regional books to provide seamless coverage of the entire California coast from just outside the Golden Gate Bridge to Mexico, with special attention given to the popular offshore islands between Point Conception and San Diego. The Cruising Guide to Central and Southern California provides comprehensive coverage of all the anchorages and harbors from the Golden Gate Bridge to Ensenada, Mexico, including the offshore islands. It includes historical background, information on local weather and cruising conditions, passagemaking strategies for sailors and powerboaters, and photographs of all ports and anchorages as they appear from the water.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Fagan breaks down multi micro climates into detailed and descriptive blocks, highlighting which routes will show off what type of weather in different parts of the year. If you already know what the weather will be like in Santa Cruz Channel in October, or when Cuyler Harbor turns into a dangerous lee shore (and what conditions to watch for in advance), then I suppose you don't need this book."
"Good, useful material for mariners along southern California coast."
"great book my husband loved it."
"this is a great book packed with useful information for anyone planning a trip along the Southern California coast."
"Essential for anchorages without the hassles."
"I got this for my son for celebrating his new ownership of a boat."
Best Sailing Navigation

- The latest developments in outboard motors and inboard vectored thrust propulsion systems, including joystick controls - New mayday procedures. - Cutting edge technology: VHF/DSC radio; Rescue 21 coastal communication system; networking electronic devices; features and capabilities of GPS, radar, depth sounder, fish finders, and chartplotters; eLoran system; autopilot; NMEA 2000 and more. He is a former Chairman and President of the Chris Craft Boat Company.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Even today, you can see the family resemblance between the Coast Guard Boat Crew Manual and Chapman."
"But to have two full chapters on these subjects, plus dozens more, at the level of detail that it does, is a testament to the exhaustive research that went into this book. If you're a sailor or a power boater or a fisherman or just have a deep love and respect for the water, don't go out to eat tonight and buy this book instead."
"An absolute must-have volume for every sailor, whether a novice or professional skipper."
"It's Chapman Piloting and Seamanship."
"A must have for every serious boater!"
"Great book full of great information and diagrams where needed."
"Some great rules/regs, some great newbie boat-handling tips, but it seems to get bogged-down in high-detail on some things (like compass compensation) while quickly overviewing other topics (like VHF/DSCC) that could use more detail (like how to call for radio-checks, how to use DSCC, how to use AIS)."
Best Sailing Narratives

Known to millions of readers of The Perfect Storm as the captain of the Hannah Boden , sister ship to the Andrea Gail , Linda Greenlaw is also known as one of the best sea captains on the East Coast. -- Douglas Whynott, The New York Times Book Review. The term fisherwoman does not exactly roll trippingly off the tongue, and Linda Greenlaw, the world's only female swordfish boat captain, isn't flattered when people insist on calling her one. The Hungry Ocean , Greenlaw's account of a monthlong swordfishing trip over 1,000 nautical miles out to sea, tells the story of what happens when things go right--proving, in the process, that every successful voyage is a study in narrowly averted disaster. Greenlaw's straightforward, uncluttered prose underscores the qualities that make her a good captain, regardless of gender: fairness, physical and mental endurance, obsessive attention to detail.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If one is interested in fishing and the challenges of that profession, this is the book."
"Another great book by a great author and lobster boat skipper."
"Love Linda Greenlaw's story of the long line swordfishing."
"Very good."
"Ms. Greenlaw is a great writer and has plenty of interesting tales."
"Fascinating account of deep sea fishing- battling boredom one minute, killer weather the next..."
"It was a fictionalized account of actual events surrounding the loss of the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing vessel lost at sea with all of its crew during a horrific storm in 1991. One of the characters in that story, Linda Greenlaw, captain of the Andrea Gail's sister ship, the Hannah Boden, has written a fascinating tale of life aboard a swordboat--minus the tragedy. To most of us, the concept of spending a month or more at sea in smelly, cramped quarters, working torturous 20-hour days and MAYBE getting a paycheck to show for it, (depending on how good the catch is), hardly seems worth the effort."
"I love fishing, she goes over every aspect of a trip."
Best Instructional Sailing

Evaluate the condition of your boat or one you’re about to purchase Repair structural damage to your fiberglass sailboat Improve or repair your sailboat’s electrical system Troubleshoot, maintain, and repair your boat’s diesel engine Put a professional-looking finish on your boat’s hull, deck, spars, wood, and trim Make and repair sails, sail covers, dodgers, awnings, sailbags, and bimini tops. Don Casey’s Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual combines six core volumes into a single, utterly dependable resource that answers every frequent question, explains every major system, and helps you keep your boat and its components shipshape. Evaluate the condition of your boat or one you’re about to purchase Repair structural damage to your fiberglass sailboat Improve or repair your sailboat’s electrical system Troubleshoot, maintain, and repair your boat’s diesel engine Put a professional-looking finish on your boat’s hull, deck, spars, wood, and trim Make and repair sails, sail covers, dodgers, awnings, sailbags, and bimini tops.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Casey certainly explains and shows through copious illustrations, how fiberglass repairs - even "major" ones - can be done by the DIYer with some degree of aptitude."
"This is a very good book on how to maintain, repair and assess the various systems on a sailboat."
"Oh I love this book, so many different project ideas it gives me and ways I can check on stuff, currently having a problem with the tach and this at least shows me how one works which I never quite paid attention to so hopefully I'll be able to fix it."
"Excellent and has a great amount of variety and much needed information."
"Fantastic book for anyone, in this case my son, who has a sailboat and is doing the maintenance himself."
"This book is a reference book and doesn't spend a lot of time on any one subject. Update (2 weeks later): I've had a chance to look closer at this book and I just reduced my opinion of this book from 5 Stars to 4 Stars. But if you need to know exact numbers on how much electricity that you are pulling and how much you need (And you have been out of school as long as I have been), I would suggest ordering an additional book on boat electronics."
"Please this before you buy a used sailboat."
"I can see how you can use these articles to fix things that Don points out that you may have missed previously, but I wish I would have read this book before I bought my boat, not after."